I ually try to post this either toward the end of the year or around the beginning of the year. It’s a bit late this year but at least I’m beating last year’s post which wasn’t published until the 30th.

This isn’t even counting all the Zumba parties that happened. LOL. My philosophy is — never miss a party if you can help it. I never turn down an invite as long as I’m available to attend. That said, I’m not the kind of person that you extend courtesy invites to. If you don’t want me to come, don’t invite me — becae I will show up.

Speaking of Zumba parties, these are jt a few of the events that I can think of off the top of my head…

Kansas City Restaurant Week – It’s like the most wonderful time of the year! You get to have $100 dinners for $33. Most of the restaurants have lunch promotions too. And, almost every restaurant in the city participates. It’s pretty amazing.

Boulevard – If I remember correctly, I think we got to do it twice last year.

Salsa Lessons – I also got to participate in some salsa lessons at Viva Social dance studio in Shawnee Mission.

Master Certificate in Project Management – I completed my Master Certificate in Project Management from Wichita State University’s Center for Management Development. My plan is to eventually take the PMP exam but jt not at the moment.

Grace Hill Winery – Brian, Jay, Becca, and I got to tour Grace Hill Winery with the Young Professionals of Wichita group.

Corporate Challenge – I participated in the Wichita Corporate Challenge and actually got a bronze medal in one of my events (corn hole).

The Dead South – Brian and I watched the Dead South perform at Nortons.

Open Streets ICT – Brian and I finally got a chance to participate in Open Streets ICT. We rented a couple of Zagster bikes and cruised up and down Douglas. It was a ton of fun!

Mural Scavenger Hunt – Brian and I did a mural scavenger hunt. We went on a mission to find all of the murals painted for Avenue Art Days.

Finally, I picked up a new hobby. Brian and I decided to take a break from bowling over the summer. We normally resume our bowling league for the fall but we decided to skip it this year becae we started playing pickleball on Sunday nights. It’s around the same time as our Sunday night bowling league. Brian’s not really that into it but I’m completely addicted. I event bought myself a real paddle, which is an upgrade from the pickleball paddle set that Brian and I had been ing.

Anyway, that’s pretty much 2018 in a nutshell. Now to see what fun things we will discover and experience in 2019!

Brian and I got roped into throwing a New Year’s Eve party this year. Although, I did offer so it’s not like we were forced into it. I did it to myself. LOL.

Leading up to NYE, our friends were talking about going to this party that costs $75 per person. I don’t care if it’s all you can drink, I’d rather not pay to go to a party. It’s one thing if it’s a charity benefit. Pl, I don’t drink that much. And, if I’m drinking, I’d rather stay home and drink.

Other people were fine with the cost but the Phelpi weren’t so keen on the price either. I’m glad April said something. But then we were trying to figure out how to get together for NYE in the group chat. That’s when it came to me. If we jt want to get together and we’re not really particular about where, then they should all jt came over. And, that’s how the party started.

I ually don’t prefer to host on NYE becae we have this superstition that whatever you’re doing on NYD is what you’re doing all year so if you’re hung over or you have a messy hoe or you’re stuck cleaning the hoe on NYD, that’s pretty much what your whole year will be like. Our typical MO is to hit other people’s parties (my parents’ for the food and Hideki’s for the booze — most of the time) and then be home by midnight so we can ring in the New Year by having sex. Yes, it’s been our long running tradition. We figured if we’re having sex on NYD, then we will be having sex all year long. And, yes, it’s important enough to that this is a mt. Our friend all know that we have to be home by midnight.

It was fun hanging out and ringing in the New Year with everyone but we obvioly didn’t get our midnight sex this year. We had to wait until later on NYD. At least we got it done before the day was over otherwise we would have been cursed with lack of sex all year. And that jt cannot be. LOL.

No midnight sex aside, we had a great time celebrating with everyone. Here are some of the pics we took…

I’m glad Jess and Marc took a photo in front of our gold fringe backdrop. At least it didn’t go to waste.

Me and Jess with our party tiaras.

Jay and Brian (with Becca and April in the background).

Me and the Massingills, my favorite Zumba family.

Jess and me and Madison and Brian.

I made a jug of Carlos O’Kelly’s margarita.

We laid out the party favors for everyone.

I may have overestimated how many people would show up.

We pulled out some of our favorite games and decided that’s what we would do to pass the time becae I wasn’t allowed to have Zumba.

I love having people over but I’m not a huge fan of hosting NYE parties becae of our superstitions. All things aside though, it was a great night overall. But, I spect we will resume our normal NYE tradition next year.

We had a fun double date with Hideki and Amy a few weeks ago. We met up at AMC for Aquaman and then had a late dinner at Carrabba’s after. It worked out great becae it had been a while since the four of got to hang out and, since we were all having our own NYE parties, we couldn’t be together on NYE. Brian and I would normally attend theirs but decided to take one for the team and host our own NYE party this year.

The movie was great except for a few gratuito scenes which made me chuckle. Brian calls it Jason Momoa’s version of Blue Steel. LOL.

Dinner was fabulo, as always. Joe even came by and visited for a bit and took a photo with . Brian and I ually order the same thing every time so we were excited to show him that we actually ordered something different time.

Brian got a pizza and I got the pork tenderloin.

Amy and Hideki split the trio.

Brian had a beer, while Hideki, Amy, and I shared a pitcher of the blackberry sangria (it’s my favorite sangria at Carrabba’s). I’m sometimes tempted to get a pitcher of it for myself, which Brian frowns upon. I have actually drank a whole pitcher by myself before. It’s not pretty. It was nice to be able to share it with others this time around.

We wanted to do something nice for Hideki and Amy so bought dinner but Amy got an added bon of getting a bag of gluten free pasta imported from Italy. What a treat! Speaking of treats, it’s always a pleasure hanging out with these two. They are such a joy to be around! Perhaps we can get together again after they return from their trip to Thailand. I can’t wait to hear about their adventures.

Twin Peaks is one of those restaurants that’s been around forever but we’d never had a reason to go there. Brian said he’s heard from several people that the food is actually decent. I guess it’s jt not a place that immediately comes to mind when we’re looking for some place to eat.

We finally had a reason to go recently. We met some friends there for Brynden’s birthday dinner. We tried it for the first time and, I have to say, it wasn’t bad.

Brian had a hamburger and Lindsay had the pot roast, which was presented in a cast iron dish — the presentation was better than what I was expecting from a sports bar type place. It looked good, actually.

I was dull and jt got chicken tenders. I wasn’t that hungry so I didn’t even eat much of it. I think I had one chicken tender and then Lindsay and Madison helped me with the rest. Brian ate most of the fries.

Here’s what the inside of the restaurant looks like.

I can understand why it’s popular with the guys. I’m not jt talking about the scantily clad girls either. They actually have a bunch of TVs showing vario sporting events. I suppose if you want to watch sports and drink some beers with your buds, this would be a good place to go.

It was a convenient place for to meet for dinner after Zumba and before the rest of the evening’s festivities in honor of Brynden’s 19th birthday. I had jt subbed for Joel at South YMCA and, after my crazy work week, didn’t have the energy to continue on to Club Rodeo with the rest of the gang. We were only in it for the dinner part. I’m glad I got to celebrate Brynden’s day, even though it was jt a small part of it. It gave me an opportunity to give Brynden’s mom Laurie her prize for winning my little guessing game on my Zumba page (I’d been hanging on to her prize for a few weeks becae we hadn’t been able to connect until then) and also give Brynden her present, which I purposely matched Laurie’s prize so they could be matchy-matchy together at some point.

Oh! One of the Zumba guys, Luis, made both Missy and Brynden pineapple Zumba birthday cakes. I missed Missy’s but Brian and I got to share a slice of Brynden’s cake. It was delicio!

Brian and I went to lunch at Hereford Hoe for the final club social of the year. Everyone was by with holiday and family stuff so it was pretty much jt the Harmons (Gary and Cathy), Josh Vargo, and .

It’s not often that I can make a lunch due to work meetings and such and Brian ually can’t come becae he works too darn far away but we both happened to be off that day. We didn’t have any plans except for errands so it worked out that we could go. It wasn’t a great turnout for a social (as can be expected becae of the time of year) but we had a wonderful, intimate lunch between the five of .

The soup du jour was a green chile soup that wasn’t green. LOL. It was amazing! Possibly the best soup I’d had in a long time.

Brian ordered a cup and shared it with me.

Here are pictures of the rest of our food…

I’d had brunch at Hereford Hoe before but I hadn’t really had any other dining experience there. I don’t count our Rotary lunches becae the restaurant ually prepares a buffet for so we don’t get to choose. It was a refreshing change to be able to order from the menu. Food at Hereford Hoe is pretty good. I highly recommend it if you’ve never been. It’s a great place for celebrating special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. It’s also great for lunch meetings. I would probably go more often if it wasn’t so out of the way.

It was a pleasure visiting with Josh and the Harmons over lunch. You can’t beat a free meal and good company!

Who We Are

Brian and Ching met in 1999 and have been together ever since. Brian was born and raised in Wichita. He moved away to live in Memphis for a few years and then returned. It was after he returned to Wichita that he met Ching. Coming home was probably the best decision he's ever made, besides marrying Ching.

Ching is an exotic and petulant little flower imported from the Philippines. Her family moved to the Wichita area in the mid-90s. She is an avid blogger and picture-taker. She is quite prolific and has authored most of the posts on the site.

Brian and Ching are inseparable and enjoy many activities together including traveling, dancing, bowling, chess, and poker. The only activities they don't share are video games (mostly Brian's thing) and Zumba (that's all Ching). They live in Wichita with their two adorable dogs, Molly and Saki.

This blog started in 2002 to document their life after marriage and has since evolved into a chronicle of their day to day adventures.